


I dream'd a dream tonight (and so did I)

by gabrielgoodman



Category: bare: A Pop Opera - Hartmere/Intrabartolo
Genre: M/M, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Romeo and Juliet References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 10:53:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11034705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gabrielgoodman/pseuds/gabrielgoodman
Summary: Jason lies, Peter thinks, Jason lies all the time. He lies when he's flirting with Ivy at every party their little group has, he lies when he tells his mother and father that he will find a nice girl to settle down with because it's what they want to hear, and he lies when he goes to confession once a week. Jason lies almost every time he opens his mouth.





	I dream'd a dream tonight (and so did I)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ftwnhgn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ftwnhgn/gifts).



> A Coda of sorts. Heavily inspired by all the Romeo and Juliet motifs in Bare because they are my favorite part of the show.
> 
> Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, I do not own any of those characters and no profit is made with this work of fiction. This isn’t beta’d or anything and I’m no native speaker so there might be a few grammar, syntax or spelling mistakes. Feel free to adopt and take care of them.

"Dreamers often lie," Peter says and it tastes like blood in his mouth.

 

*

 

 _ Jason lies,_ Peter thinks,  _ Jason lies all the time _ _._ He lies when he's flirting with Ivy at every party their little group has, he lies when he tells his mother and father that he will find a nice girl to settle down with because it's what they want to hear, and he lies when he goes to confession once a week. Jason lies almost every time he opens his mouth.

Peter knows that; Peter knows it's a defense mechanism, that it is what's expected of Jason, the picture perfect student, son and man, the saint of the school, just as much of an icon as the stone statues in their church, looking down, looking past them all. That Jason doesn't  _want_ to lie, that Jason would gladly run away with him if they'd ever have the chance, is what Jason presses into his skin late at night, when it's so quiet Peter thinks the rapid beating of his heart will shake the floorboards.

Jason lies so often, by now it's almost second nature and Peter finds himself doubting. He knows he shouldn't for he knows better than all of them, for he detects every lie because the universal truth is also  _his_ truth, for it's the only truth he's ever known and believed in; more than he ever believed in the church or a God that doesn't love him. He shouldn't be doubting Jason for it means he'd be doubting  _ himself _ and how far would that get him?

Peter lies too. Though the difference between him and Jason is that he doesn't want to anymore. That he lies for the benefit of someone else. Still, he's a bush that burns, consumed by the flames, miracle so far away; and it seems like Jason can't handle the heat.

 

*

 

Peter knows that Jason's not really interested in Romeo and Juliet and yet he brings up the audition in the hope that something will change; maybe, possibly, if only Jason would give him the benefit of the doubt for once and stop pretending. He's been to every performance Peter was part of since 7th grade and he's always shown sincere enthusiasm but it's not like he ever considered getting up on stage himself which puzzles Peter because he's never met anyone who wears a second skin quite as comfortably as Jason McConnell.

And Jason, with his golden locks and striking blue eyes, his fair skin and dazzling white smile, he belongs on a stage; he belongs on the pedestal everyone puts him up because he doesn't fear the fall. Jason McConnell was made for the stage and the stage was made for him, it's all his life has ever been: A Stage.

The perfect student, the perfect son, the perfect man. All the roles he plays.

All the lies he spins.

He speaks of _Forever_ and _You and I_ as if the more he says it, the realer it'll get but when he kisses Peter, he hardly looks at him, and he rarely talks of love; Peter wonders if it is because Jason doesn't try to lie in his presence, and he wonders if Jason uses Forever inflationary because he believes it will shorten his time in damnation, will soften the burn of Hellfire.

Wonders if Jason believes it all.

All the lies he spins.

Jason's Romeo, of course he is. Peter is neither surprised nor does he care; it's really just another lie more, another nail in his own coffin.

May fire come and burn him to ashes.

 

*

 

Peter is getting tired of the lies, Jason does too, so he gets rid of them.

 

*

 

Peter's alone when he suddenly realizes that his only truth is a lie.

It tastes as bitter as it sounds. _Payback_ , he thinks.

 

*

 

Jason's palm is as smooth as he remembers it to be, his touch as gentle yet passionate as it used to be in the safety of the night, his voice as soft, as breathless, as it was when he breathed the Hail Mary onto Peter's skin, his eyes as honest as they've never been before and for the first time he really looks at Peter,  _looks_ and  _sees_ and Peter's afraid that the beating of his heart might shake the floorboards and rattle the walls. It wouldn't be the first time and he's not sure if he'd even care - let them all know what's in the open anyway, let them all hear the truth from their icon's lips, let the icon's lips touch his own and let it be as divine as it's always been.

Let it burn him to the ground.

Jason's so close and so real and so true; the only religion Peter ever had, the only saint he ever prayed to, the only one who could have brought him to his knees, the only tale he ever spun. He's right there and Peter's so weak, so faithful, so obedient, so ready to be consumed by the flames.

And then it's over.

Lies hurt, Peter realizes later, lies hurt those who believe and lies hurt those who dream and lies will make a martyr out of him if he's not careful enough. Maybe Jason was right, maybe he really is a fool, maybe there aren't any heroes who are queer, maybe that's why their story is a tragedy. Maybe that's the only time Jason didn't lie to him.

Maybe _that's_ their universal truth.

 

*

 

_ "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen." _

 

*

 

Jason falls off the pedestal and shatters on stage almost quietly; there's nothing left behind but the empty shell of a lonely boy, the sound of his voice, the stare of his eyes, the fading strength of his grip and a dream dying on his lips.

Peter falls too, down onto his knees, one last time for his saint. Touches him like no pilgrim should ever dare to touch someone holy. As if it might save him.

 

*

 

"Peace, Mercutio, peace! Thou talk'st of nothing," Jason says and it tastes like poison on his tongue.

All the roles he played. Everything else is a lie.

**Author's Note:**

> hmu on my tumblr henribrl.


End file.
